The Outset of Dissension in Islam — Page 88
88 H A D RAT MIRZA BASHIR-UD-DIN MAHMUD AHMAD with the teachings of ‘ Abdull a h bin Sab a the rebels of Egypt believed Hadrat ‘ Al i ra to be the wa si of the Holy Prophet sa and were not ready to perform bai‘at 76 on the hand of anyone other than him. However, although the rebels of Kufah and Basrah were with them as far as the uprising was concerned, they were not at agreement as far as belief was concerned. Thus, the people of Kufah considered it to be in their best interest to offer bai‘at to Zubair bin ‘Aww a m ra and the people of Basrah looked upon T al h ah ra. Due to this disagreement the representatives of each caravan turned to those individuals whom they wished to appoint for the office of Khilafat after Hadrat ‘ Uthm a n ra. THE REBELS OF EGYPT APPROACH H A D RAT ‘AL I RA The rebels of Egypt went to Hadrat ‘Al i ra , who was commanding a section of the army outside Madinah at the time, which stood ready to crush the rebels. They approached him and said that Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra was no longer suitable for Khilafat due to his administrative incompetence and that they had come to dismiss him and hoped that Hadrat ‘Al i ra would accept this office after him. Upon hearing their proposal, he demonstrated such a degree of religious indignation as befitted a man of his stature. Thus, he rebuked them and acted very harshly towards them saying: “All pious people know that the Holy Prophet sa has foretold of the armies that would setup camp in Dhul-Marwah and Dh u Khashab (where the rebels had setup camp) and 76. An oath of allegience to a religious leader. [Publishers]